21 October 2013

Book covers light up my world. They do. Like the Fourth of July. So I was pretty psyched when Strange Chemistry sent around an email with all of their new covers for 2014. I am seriously looking forward to a few of these, particularly Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells and Under Nameless Stars by Christian Schoon. Even if some of these haven't popped up on your radar, their covers are so lovely, I thought it would be a crime not to share.

20 October 2013

Hello everyone! 你们好！I hope y'all have had an awesome week. I myself feel very fine because I finished reading The House of Hades by Rick Riordan and it was pure awesomeness! Well worth the wait. (As if it made the waiting any less excruciating.)

Here's what I found waiting on my bed for me when I got home this weekend:

The Dream Thieves by Maggie StiefvaterThe Raven Cycle #2
Seriously, do I even have to explain how awesome this is? If you don't know firsthand the epicness of this book, please realize that your life is severely lacking and that you would do best to go get yourself a copy of this at any cost necessary. It is a work of pure brilliance and it looks so good alongside all of Maggie Stievater's other books!

what did you get in your mailbox?

15 October 2013

Today I want to bring up an important subject: reviews, and what to keep in mind when writing them.

There are as many review styles as there are people; everyone is different. Realize, though, that this also means that your review style is not going to jive with every reader who visits your blog. Also, if you're frustrated by the lack of response to your reviews, consider the possibility that it is because your style isn't cutting it for the general public.

That's what I aim to do here today: point out what the general public tends to jive with.

14 October 2013

There is that single moment of shining hope when my fingernail gently lifts up the corner of the "20% off" sticker plastered to the cover of the book I recently purchased. A moment where I think to myself, "This is going to come off like a biscuit from a properly greased cookie sheet." But then I see a patch of rough white sticker stubbornly stuck to the cover.

I feel really old to be saying this, but remember back when Borders was around? God, I loved that store. They made stickers right. Stickers that actually came off the books without leaving that irritating rim of residue behind -- residue that you then had to painstakingly remove with a well applied fingernail.

I blame myself for this. This is what I get when I buy a book from a store that does not specialize in book selling. This store put not one but two(!) stickers on the cover of my precious copy of The House of Hades by Rick Riordan, stickers that I then had to ever so carefully remove so as not to leave that god awful residue behind.

This is not merely a rant. This is an appeal. For the love of God, please... If you have to put a sticker on a book, especially the front of a book, at least make it a sticker that will come easily off and not the kind that you have to take an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to. (Which takes the shininess off certain covers, by the way.)

13 October 2013

11 October 2013

Over lunch one day, I launched this question across the table to my dad: what would happen if I used a swear word in my novel and it got published and then someone in my family read it? If I were to answer that question, I'd say instant destruction. Or, more specifically, my destruction. In my mind, I pictured myself hiding in my room until the end of days, trembling as the voices of my disapproving family whispered to me at night.

Alright, that's dramatic. I'll consent to that, but to all you writers out there, don't you shudder to think about the reactions of your family/friends to the material in your book?

10 October 2013

09 October 2013

I've got some time before my next class and I'm sitting here in my university's Center for Student Involvement feeling all academic, so I thought I would talk to y'all today about coming back to the world of reviewing after my five month long stint in a universe without book reviews.

06 October 2013

My lovelies! I have slowly faded away while being away from you. Truly. I have. But honestly, I had to give up the responsibility of my blog in order to cope with all the personal stuff that was going on in my family. If you read my post in April, then you will already know that one of the reasons I stopped blogging was to help care for my uncle, who was suffering from cancer. I never did come back to say that my uncle passed away May 6. I wasn't there when he passed away. My dad was the only one in the room with him, but I was told he went as peacefully as could be expected.

Where To Find Me

Authors, Publishers, and Bloggers

Authors and Publishers: I am currently not accepting review requests. However, I'm all for hosting giveaways, participating in hops, or sharing a guest post. For full details and contact info, please visit my Review Policy.

Bloggers: This is an award-free zone. If you think my blog is great, please show your love by commenting and following or shooting me a tweet. Thank you for considering me! :)

About

Amelia RobinsonLexington, KY

I am a lover of a great many things: hero's stories, quotes, purple things, nail polish properly applied, British shows, exquisitely simple templates, eos lip balms in a clear jar, warm beds in winter, 50 chaotic pages of a draft, unknowable characters, Christmas songs in June, a bit of philosophy, a dash of psychology, the piano on a rainy day, a good daydream.

I am a 21-year-old college student and an aspiring writer. I would love to be your friend. Especially if you like a good story. Read more..